The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.28           July 28, 1998 
 
 
SWP, Greens Win Round In Florida Ballot Rights Case  

BY JANET POST
MIAMI - On July 7 the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit unanimously reversed a 1997 ruling by U.S. district judge K. Michael Moore granting summary judgment for the Florida secretary of state Sandra Mortham in a case brought by the Florida Socialist Workers Election Campaign and the Florida Green Party, which affects all small parties.

The parties are challenging the constitutionality of a Florida elections statute that requires no less than a $10,000 state bond and no less than a $5,000 county bond in each of Florida's 67 counties to be recognized as a minor political party. "The State's bond requirement discriminates against working-class candidates and all minor parties without funds to purchase bonds, thereby undemocratically restricting access to the ballot," explained Ernest Mailhot, Socialist Workers candidate for governor of Florida.

The case will now go back to the District Court for a ruling on the merits. Attorney for the parties Randall C. Berg Jr., of the Florida Justice Institute in Miami, said, "Yesterday's decision vindicates the right of all minor political parties to challenge threats made by the State that restrict a party's ability to present differing points of view to the voters, the cornerstone of a free and democratic society."

 
 
 
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